This invention relates to gaming machines, such as slot machines and video poker machines. One of the major drawbacks experienced by slot machine or other gaming device players is that the player sometimes will win a few large jackpots on a game and then several hours later have lost all the money back to same slot machine or to other slot machines. The player receives no recognition for those wins. Most types of slot machines are designed for a casino to make money and for only a small percentage of players who play slot machines to walk away with more money than they started with. It is clear that players would enjoy getting rewarded if they do well on slot machines over a predetermined period of time, no matter how much the players lose. Many attempts have been made to create this experience. Some examples include: Casino Tournaments, and Player Tracking Bonuses.
Casino Tournaments—Casinos have been putting on tournaments for a long time. More recently, advances in technology also allow players to play games over computer networks, such as the Internet. Internet games and the ability to see the player's hold cards have drawn incredible interest. Players like to compete, while having a sense that that their skill will earn them more money than lesser skilled players. Players also like the social atmosphere of playing in tournaments. The main problem with tournaments is that they need to be scheduled and requires casino personnel to organize and run the tournaments, which does not work very well in a casino that is open 24 hours a day. Furthermore, the slot machines are not designed for tournament play so the game play is awkward. Also, while the games are being played during the tournament the games are not earning their normal revenue.
Player Tracking Bonuses—Casinos want to create loyal players who will continually visit their casino. As one way of achieving this, casinos aggressively advertise to players to sign up for the casinos' player clubs. Every time a player plays a slot machine with their player club card inserted in the machine the player receives “loyalty points,” which can be redeemed for dinners, small gifts, cash back, free concert tickets, and so on. Some casinos give away large jackpots to player club members by randomly selecting players who are playing at slot machines with their player club card in the game. Other ways allow player club members to play bonus games on the small displays in the player tracking units. The problem with player tracking bonuses is that the bonuses run “behind the scenes” and are not really exciting to the player. Also prizes are awarded randomly versus being awarded based on performance so players never know if they will win.